Avaliação da exposição aos resíduos de agrotóxicos em alimentos de origem animal: um olhar sustentável para aquisição de alimentos em ambiente institucional

Abstract

Pesticides are chemical substances that cause negative impacts on human health and their intensive use in Brazilian agriculture is a cause for concern due to the potential chronic risk of exposure through food. Although the impact of pesticides is mainly focused on plant-based foods, foods of animal origin also represent a relevant route of exposure, particularly due to the use of pesticides throughout the livestock production chain. In addition, some pesticides, because they are lipophilic and have a high potential for bioaccumulation, have a high affinity for adipose tissue, favoring bioaccumulation and consequently increasing the risk of their persistence and chemical contamination. This study evaluated the risk of exposure to pesticide residues in products of animal origin, based on the evaluation of foods purchased from an institutional restaurant. The study followed the methodology proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO), in which the risk of exposure was assessed based on the analysis of the Theoretical Maximum Daily Intake (TMDI) of active ingredients of pesticides permitted in fresh foods of animal origin, the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) and the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI), these data were collected from the Codex Alimentarius database. The estimate was analyzed according to the per capita values of the supply of foods of animal origin in the menus, found from the total quantity in kg of food purchased in the period of acquisition divided by the total number of meals offered in the same period. From the TMDI calculation, the risk of exposure was assessed by verifying the percentage of contribution of the ADI, considering the body weight of an adult individual of 60 kg proposed by the WHO method, being considered as unacceptable risk when the contribution of the intake was above 100% of the ADI of the pesticide. The active ingredients of pesticides permitted for use in food crops such as beef, pork, poultry, eggs and milk were evaluated. The following results stand out: for beef and pork, five active ingredients presented ADIs above 100%, namely: aldrin and dieldrin, haloxyfop, heptachlor, novaluron and dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT). For poultry, the unacceptable risk was estimated for aldrin and dieldrin, haloxyfop and heptachlor, while for eggs and milk the estimated values did not demonstrate an unacceptable risk for ingestion, although the active ingredient haloxyfop contributed with more than 50% of the ADI in milk. These results demonstrated that from the feeding of a single food product, there is possibly an ingestion risk above the acceptable level for adults. These results may be even more alarming due to the high meat consumption among the Brazilian population and the context of institutional feeding, which provides large volumes of meals and high per capita meat values on a daily basis. It is concluded that it is urgent to promote dietary diversification, reducing the supply of beef, pork and poultry on menus, in addition to contributing to the debate against the use of pesticides, aiming at transforming food systems and achieving sustainable development.